d it in his life before?

He raised his hand to jerk aimlessly at the brim of his hat, dropped
his hand abruptly to his side again, and started quickly, hurriedly away
through the throng around him. A sort of savagery had swept upon him.
In a flash he had made his decision. He would take the gambler's chance!
And afterward--Jimmie Dale's lips were like a thin, straight line--it
was Whitey Mack's life or his own! Whitey Mack had said he was the only
one that was wise--and Whitey Mack had not told Lannigan yet, wouldn't
tell Lannigan until the show-down. If he, Jimmie Dale, got to the
Sanctuary, became Jimmie Dale and got away again, even if Whitey Mack
knew him as Jimmie Dale, there was still a chance. It was his life or
Whitey Mack's--Whitey Mack, with his lean-jawed, clean-shaven wolf's
face! If he could get Whitey Mack before the other was ready to tell
Lannigan! Surely he had the right of self-preservation! Surely his life
was as valuable as Whitey Mack's, as valuable as a man's who, as those
in the secrets of the underworld knew well enough, had blood upon his
hands, who lived by crime, who was a menace to the community! Had he not
the right to preserve his own life at the expense of one such as that?
He had never taken life--the thought was abhorrent! But was there any
other way in event of Whitey Mack knowing him as Jimmie Dale? His
back was against the wall; he was trapped; certain death, and, worse,
dishonour stared him in the face. Lannigan and Whitey Mack would be
together--the odds would be two to one against him--and he had no
quarrel with Lannigan--somehow he must let Lannigan out of it.

The other side of the street was less crowded. He crossed over, and,
still with the shuffling tread that dozens around him knew as the
characteristic gait of Larry the Bat, but covering the ground with
amazing celerity, he hurried along. It was only at the end of the block,
that cross street from the Bowery that led to the Sanctuary. How much
time had he? He turned the corner into the darker cross street. Whitey
Mack would have learned from Bristol Bob that Larry the Bat had just
been there; that is, that Larry the Bat was not at the Sanctuary. Whitey
Mack would probably be in no hurry--he and Lannigan might wait until
later, until Whitey Mack should be satisfied that Larry the Bat had gone
home. It was the line of least resistance; they would not attempt to
scour the city for him. They might even wait in that private room